1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved cutting device for cable stripping machines, and more particularly, the invention relates to improved cutting devices for the purpose of recovery of these cables.
It is apparent that electrical wires such as telephone cables, consist of a plurality of leads, of insulating material, and of various materials for mechanical protection or the sealing of such wires and cables. Some materials used as components for wires and cables have a certain re-saleability, and therefore it is of interest to provide for the recovery of these materials when the wires and cables are discarded as waste. For this purpose, some cable stripping machines have been developed, and, accordingly, these machines of the invention seek to perform a separation in one action or in a plurality of simultaneous actions, the cutting being accomplished at one or more locations of the cross-section of the wire or cable, in order to achieve the stripping thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various prior art stripping machines and the like are found to be known, and exemplary of the prior art are the following:
French patent 2,346,885 PA1 French patent 2,574,225
French patent 2,346,885 includes at least two cutter wheels associated with a driving means so as to be rotated in an opposite direction, in order to drive along the wire or cable clamped between these wheels; the wire or cable is moved thereby between a guide situated ahead of the wheels and a cutting device including a cutting blade situated behind the wheels and intended for slitting the wire or cable. The wheels are mounted within bearings which are so arranged that their center lines remain always parallel to one another, however with the possibility so as to permit their adaption with wires and cables of different sizes or cross-sections. In this way, and in accordance with the possibilities of the scope of the art, either the upper wheel is stationary and the lower wheel is mobile, or the upper wheel is mobile and the lower wheel is stationary. During the machine was operating faultlessly while stripping wires and cables having a cross-section greater than approximately 15 millimeters, the wires and cables of smaller cross-section which constitute a substantial amount of the recovery material, had a tendency to move aside from the cutting plane and slipped under the clamping and driving action of the wheels towards the cutting tool or tools, This was found to be a harmful drawback when used with all the materials existing in the market, and cables having a smaller diameter were not stripped at all, and were accordingly left discarded.
French partent 2,574,225 of the applicant herein shows, as also shown in FIG. 1 below, a device including two sharpened cutting blades 1 disposed on either side of the wire or cable to be stripped. These cutting blades are fixedly mounted by supporting members associated with the bearings of couples of the cable driving wheels, and are movable each one with the corresponding couple of driving wheels, the cutting blades being disposed between the driving wheels. These cutting blades are mounted rearwardly of the machine and in opposition to the threading direction, as indicated by arrow F.sup.1 of the wire or cable to be stripped. These cutting blades are in the form of a rearward portion with a yoke-shaped contour 1.sup.1 extending as a flattened contour 1.sup.2 in an endwise orientation showing the active part of the tool.
These cutting devices of the prior art have many or several drawbacks over the present invention, more particularly when wires and cables of small cross-section are to be stripped. Firstly, it is a result of the feeding action of the cable toward the cutting area, the cutting blades have a tendency to be pivoted axially and to come closer to one another, in accordance with arrow F.sup.2 for entering more deeply into the core of the cable and which tends to slow down the advancement of the cable. Moreover, as the cable portion stripped from insulating material is discharged through the rear side of the machine, this portion has a tendency to be rolled up about itself and to come into abutment against the bottom of each cutting blade where jammings are caused by an accumulation of material. It is therefore necessary to intervene, and to provide for periodical control and maintenance; when these precautions are omitted, the operations of the machine could become faulty, as the covering of the stripped wire or cable is not removed, or is seen as insufficiently removed. Moreover, as as shown in the drawings below, the contouring of the cutting blades is particularly expensive as far as concerning providing for an embodiment and construction of these machines of the prior art, since these cutting blades have a small length and the access thereof is difficult.
These patents or known prior uses teach and disclose various types of cable strippers and the like, but none of them taken singly or in combination disclose the specific details of the combination of the invention in such a way as to bear upon the claims of the present invention.